Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

* Mr. Kitty - After The Dark *

AN: Probably gonna see (hear) this song again, kinda love it...

***

"Yes!" a ranker yelled into his radio, "I repeat, this is Ranker Terry, identification rank B++. Requesting immediate support in Ottara city, the northwest region."

"Copy, that ranker," a feminine voice replied back at the radio, "help is on the way, what's your status?"

"Two efflux portals have appeared at the center of the city. Currently both types of monsters from each portal are fighting eachother, causing massive destruction and causalities.

"First type is a giant humanoid monster of sorts. The second type is small yet fast and highly destructive!"

"Copy that," the feminine voice replied back, "I've updated your status, help should be-"

BOOOOOMMMMM!!

A loud explosion cut the voice, signalling the fall of one of the giant monsters as it's legs were cut clean.

"Ranker Terry what was that?" she sounded confused but she still demanded the info as she needed to send more rankers if the situation has already progressed to the worse.

"Oh... Um, I think help is here already?"

"Excuse me?"

"Um, I see two, no, three people fighting both monster waves while protecting civilians and other rankers alike, I'm assuming they're the ones you sent?

"Negative..." the voice on the other end was rather lost, "help should at least take ten minutes to arrive."

"Then who the hell are those"? Terry said as he stared at the three figures.

One belonged to a young boy with spiky red hair and glowing red eyes that was wearing a jet black light armour while holding two red short swords that looked sharp enough to cut air itself.

He was the one who'd cut the giants legs.

On the other side of the battlefield, there was a young looking man with a black royal garment that made him look like he belongs to some forgotten ancient era, yet it only made him look more wise and threatening.

As he wasn't close enough, Terry couldn't see his features very well, but he could see that the figure wasn't holding a weapon, but rather using some kind of invisible magic as his hands seemed to move in sync with a series of dark explosions that destroyed hundreds of monsters at a time.

The last person was in fact a young looking girl that was standing in the middle of the action, watching the other two, uncaring of the monsters attempting to slash at her.

Looking under her feat, Terry couldn't believe his eyes as he could see a circle on the ground around the little girl, that was explicitly formed by the monsters' bodies as they all died without ever crossing its borders.

The girl was wearing a black miniskirt with a matching black hoodie that had "Fool" written on it.

Her hoodie wasn't on her head, but she had a baseball cap to cover her features. Yet nothing could prevent Terry from admiring her crimson-purple silky long hair.

***

- twenty minutes earlier -

[Special Skill: "Contract Master" has been activated.

[...

[A contract has been formed with an unnamed entity.

[Entity is currently being prepared for summoning.]

'Well, now I know how that skill works...' whispered Raven in her mind. She's wanted to test her skills and make sure they're all usable and not just for decorating her status page.

Currently, she was summoning a demon from the demon world.

According to her special skill "The Elders' Scrolls", there were multiple planes within one world.

That means that in addition to what humans can see on planet Earth, there are at least two more planes associated with the same human plane.

And those were the Celestial World and the Demon World. 'Little did I know, demons don't actually live in hell...'

Raven wasn't able to preform a complete summoning where the summoned creature would stick around forever, yet, so she only cared about a short term contract where the summoned creature must finish a task before returning back to their world.

She chose a demon since forming a contract with a resident of the Demon World was easier than ones that inhabit the Celestial World, especially that demons are always looking for opportunities to visit the human plane.

The Celestial World inhabitants on the other hand had were either too young and weak, or were powerful spirits that are conscious enough to refuse a contract.

And unlike demons, they didn't care for extra mana, souls, or any other form of payment as they mostly had everything they needed in their world.

[Entity has been successfully summoned.

[Contract will end whenever the task is completed or the summoner decides to terminate the contract.

[Current task: Help summoner with eliminating any targets she deems dangerous, and help any she deems in need]

Looking at the figure that appeared out of a small summoning circle, Raven wasn't impressed.

The figure was about a meter tall and with not much of a cover for their particular... embarrassing areas.

'Well, it's official, demons don't have the same ethical standards we have...' she thought to herself watching what she thought was an imp in front of her.

"Hi...?" she asked hesitantly as she didn't even know it'd understand.

The imp looked up at her with red eyes, and red everything else, yet didn't reply.

[An imp would be qualified as a High Ranked Lesser Demon.]

'Isn't that like the worst rank ever?'

[It is possible to find lower ranked lesser demons, but... basically yes]

'Aw, well we're stuck with this dude for now so let's make the best out of it, according to the knowledge gained from my skill, naming a demon gives them additional powers.' Raven thought to Kayla.

''I doubt it could give it much, but I'll give it a try nonetheless, it's a training session for me anyway.'

"Demon, do you have a name?"

The small imp only shook its head in a 'No' gesture.

'Well, of course you don't.' she thought before speaking up loudly. "I shall give you a name then, from now on you shall be called Calcer. Serve me and you shall receive my gratitude."

[Calcer?]

'Shhh goddamn it, I was caught in the moment and said the first name that came into my mind.' Raven could feel Kayla's figure shaking as she tried so hard to suppress her laughter.

The moment Raven finished her small speech, a brilliant red light covered the demon's body as it started to grow in size.

[You have the option of sharing one ability with your demon servant, what ability would you choose?]

Thinking for a moment, Raven knew exactly which skill she wanted to share.

"Dark Zone!" she wanted the demon to cover itself so badly that she didn't even consider the practical use of the skill.

[The most basic level of the skill will be shared with the demon while not affecting your use above the skill at all.]

"Ugh! A heads up would be appreciated next time you steal my mana..." Raven complained.

Looking back at the demon as the light faded away, she noticed a huge change between the initial image of the imp and the new one after the change.

[Appraisal?]

'Err, yea go for it.'

[Name: Calcer

[Race: Low Ranked Greater Demon

[Rank: C++

[Shared Abilities: Shadow Manipulation.

[Racial Abilities include: Soul Devouring, Demon Magic.]

Unlike his previous demonic appearance, Calcer was looking more human now. With spiky red hair and matching eyes.

The only features that would scream demon were his blood red sclera and two upside down horns on both sides of his forehead, but the fact that they were also red made they'd blend in with his hair colour.

His overall size increased so he was now a little taller than Raven, while he also wore a black light armour similar to the one Raven usually wore, when she was Draven.

'Say, Kayla, how much mana did I lose in total, as a price for the contract?'

[About 9% for summoning, and 30% for naming]

'ouch...'

"My Lady, I shall serve you to the best of my ability." The young demon said in a masculine voice that was filled gratitude and determination.

"Ah, sounds good, thank you." Raven said awkwardly as she didn't expect him to speak now. "You can start with helping humans out of the battlefield."

"Will do, my mistress." he said and headed to the center of the action.

'Well, since I'm already at it, let me try this again.'

"Fuuu~" Taking a deep breath, Raven focused in the summoning process again as she injected more mana into the magic circle itself.

The process only took a few minutes but Raven was already exhausted.

As the magic circle took shape, dark mist enveloped the area around it as a figure appeared out of it.

Bowing politely to his summoner, the demon looked rather collected and wise, especially with his weird outfit and special features.

He had void black hair with two deep red eyes, however, unlike Calcer, he had black sclera and no horns on his forehead, which only added to the mysterious air around him.

"My mistress, I shall serve you to the best of my ability." he said surprising Raven as he sounded sincere about it.

'He can already talk? How much mana did that take from me?'

[The summoning process alone took 58%]

'WHAT?? No wonder I feel like I'm gonna faint from exhaustion!' *cough*

"Ahem, um, I do apologize for the fact that I can't name you..." Raven said and to her surprise, the demon looked rather disappointed.

"It's a regret..." he said as he looked at the ground, "however, you've already given me my payment of mana, so I shall provide my assistance, like agreed."

If demons respected anything, it was loyalty. Since he'd already agreed to the contract, he was expected to pay back with his services.

"Wait," Raven stopped the demon in his tracks before he could join the battle. "I can still share one of my skills with you," she said as she extended her arm forward.

[Same skill?]

'yes please, share "Dark Zone" with him.'

Feeling the connection between them strengthen, the demon couldn't help but widen his red eyes in surprise.

"You humble me with your kindness, my mistress."

"Don't worry about it, make sure to save any humans you can find while killing all of the aliens attacking them."

"Yes, my mistress." he said before flickering away into the battlefield.

"For the love of **** tell me you appraised him!"

[Of course.]

Kayla was happy she did.

[Name: none

[Race: High Ranked Greater Demon

[Rank: A

[Shared Abilities: Dark Zone

[Racial Abilities include: Soul Devouring, Demon Magic, Shape-shifting, and others.

[Own Abilities; Can't access]

'the f*cker is a higher rank than me? His summoner? What the f***?'

[Language...]

'&£#&£'

[Err... anyway, yes he's a higher ranker, that's why he can access the full potential of your Special Skill: "Dark Zone".

[Also, don't forget he's a high ranked demon, you can tell by the way he looks and behaves.]

'But greater demons aren't nobility, according to what we know.'

[Maybe there's a condition for becoming an archdemon? And he doesn't have that condition met yet?]

'Hm, that's possible, can we review the ranks again please?'

[Absolutely,

[The demons on this planet usually have three main ranks: Commoners, Nobility, and Royalty. They're divided as follows;

[Commoners: Low Ranked Lesser Demon, High Ranked Lesser Demon, Low Ranked Greater Demon, and High Ranked Greater Demon.

[Nobilty: Archdemon, Demon Duke, and Demon Archduke.

[Royalty: Demon Lord, Devil, and Devil Lord.

[However, currently, only Demon Archdukes are acting like royalty and ruling the Demon World. That's because the 'real' royal ranks have only been heard of in legends, meaning none of them are true ranks that have been seen in demons.]

'Hm, so anyways, that means he's indeed a Greater Demon, but...

'Well, maybe he serves an archdemon and so he's behaving politely.... anyhow, let's go observe.' Raven thought as she flickered towards the chaotic battlefield.

***

Within the darkness of nowhere, a person was observing, with a smile on their face, Raven's actions in a big black mirror.

"Adorable, isn't she?" the figure says in a young yet authoritive voice filled with wisdom.

"Yes, your highness." another voice replies, "do you think she's the one?"

"Do I think?" the first youthful masculine voice replied, "no, I'm rather sure about it, she's the one that will lead us and help us uncover the secrets of this world, kfufufufufu!"